Meanwhile, Gio was deep in a very mundane dilemma. A truly mundane dilemma.
Since coming to this world, he hadn't drawn a landscape painting even once.
'No, it wasn't never.'
Come to think of it, there was a time when he created a lake for Honey and his fellow waterfowl, but that was all. Strictly speaking, that was just adding another accessory to this world, not a proper landscape painting.
Then, a question arose.
“Fruits, buildings, animals....”
He could paint them all.
“Then, what about landscapes?”
What would happen to the world I paint?
While still holding onto his doubts, Gio continued to paint.
For now, about three pieces.
***
'Breathing Sea'
Searching...
.......
....
.......
This dimension exists
Entry possible
.......
Suitable person confirmed
Synchronization possible
'Animal Kingdom'
Searching....
.......
....
.......
This dimension exists
Entry possible
.......
Suitable person confirmed
Synchronization possible
'Void City'
.......
....
.......
This dimension does not exist.
Would you like to register?
***
You have 3 unchecked notifications.
“What is this?”
Please check the new notifications.
Gio felt it.
'A premonition of enjoyment.'
After finishing farming, new content appeared with ghostly timing.
Nightwork is a sacred act that symbolizes the free spirit and the companion of an artist. Gio, who painted all night, completed a total of three landscape paintings. r
“Hmm.”
Seeing that there were three notifications, he had a rough idea. He felt good as if he had received a Christmas present wrongly delivered on Chuseok.
“Good adults are always rewarded eventually.”
“Coong?”
“Where is there a person as good as dad in the world?”
“Cooooo...”
“It’s indeed absurd to trust the relationship between a father and son. How lamentable.”
Gio, with a solemn face, skillfully babbled nonsense as he checked the system notifications.
And then asked.
“Where can I find help?”
Yes. He couldn't interpret it.
‘I know it’s related to the three paintings I finished yesterday.’
Gio painted the sea landscape first, a wilderness landscape the second, and lastly a city landscape where no one was there.
'Breathing Sea, Animal Kingdom, Void City... I've never named them like this before.'
It seems perhaps the system must have given them on its own.
“The system seems to have known my naming skills and snatched away the opportunity to name my works ... But even so, what does ‘this dimension exists’ mean?”
Directly speaking, it sounded like there was a real dimension consistent with the landscapes Gio painted.
“To have the ability to discover a dimension, I wonder how it is possible as a human.”
Though of course, for the newly evolved New Gio as a portrait, this could have been possible. With humans evolving into paintings, human standards could be temporarily left beside the Andromeda.
“Tada.”
After completing his stunning rationalization, Gio continued his above Sherlock Holmes deduction.
“Since they said entry is possible... It seems that there are real dimensions among the paintings I made, and I might be able to enter it directly.”
This large-scale update was unexpected. In the first place, human life did not seem to have such diligent management, but it could be said to be a very encouraging change.
“It’s nice.”
A fresh soul of Gangwon Province that doesn't walk the same path as others. Gio accepted and cheered for the unique challenge that he was going to take on his own, even though he hadn't even thought about it.
“But there’s something I still don’t understand....”
He couldn't understand the words 'suitable' and 'synchronization.'
“I wonder what is suitable, and what synchronization?”
“Coo?”
It’s cute, but one shouldn’t be fooled. That didn't mean 'Really?' but 'How should I know?'
“Right.”
Gio nodded.
Judging by that impure gaze, it seems like puberty has arrived, but seeing how he still responds consistently to his dad's words, he could see just how diligent of a son Honey is.
There may be bad paints in the world, but there were no bad paintings. Honey was like that.
'What a remarkable thing.'
Gio, who was checking the system window, soon discovered a new list.
List of Suitable Person
Anyone could see that it was the right answer.
“Let’s see.”
Breathing Sea_Giovanni
Synchronization Rate 0%
Animal Kingdom_Argio
Synchronization Rate 0%
'Giovanni' who said so, soon let out a sigh.
“No... there were many.”
“I see.”
“My world was submerged and destroyed by seawater.”
Ah, all of a sudden?
“Isn’t the fact that Mr. Giovanni’s homeland was destroyed too deep of a topic for someone meeting for the first time ....”
“Listen.”
“Yes, I’ll listen.”
“Now, the only thing left in that world would be the mermaids hiding under the sea. Our planet has shrunk and become regularized like a game board.”
“Like a game board?”
“I believe it turned into... what they call a dungeon.”
“Do you know about dungeons?”
“It was a concept that didn't exist in our world originally, so I didn't know about it until I died.”
Judging from the way he spoke, it seemed like 'Giovanni' was already dead.
“But I found out the moment you called me, Sir Seo Gio.”
“We are the same 'Gio'.”
He spoke while still wearing a gentle smile.
“But it is by no means we are the same person.”
“Can I consider you as me in a parallel world?”
“No, that's not true. We are just completely different individuals who miraculously share many things in common.”
“Similar faces, similar voices, similar skills... but our souls are by no means the same colour.”
Gio thought for a while and asked.
“Do you like drawing? After all you've said, I'm really curious if your tastes are similar to mine.”
“It’s one of my secret hobbies. I really enjoyed drawing seas that resembled mermaids.”
“Seas that resembled mermaids...”
They even shared the same taste in drawing. That alone made Gio recognize that they were the same 'Gio'.
“I want to see it.”
“You’ll see it soon.”
A voice filled with gentle confidence. Gio couldn't help but feel a question arise from that soft yet resolute tone.
“I know I'm taking your soul and body. Aren't you afraid or resentful? I'm just robbing you of everything for the sake of exploring a new dimension.”
“This isn't robbery. In the first place, I already died, my soul had returned to the Sun’a side, and my body had become earth and was buried in the ground... well, it didn't exactly become earth or get buried either since even the land must have been flooded by seawater now.”
“Isn't this sound like one of those dark jokes where old people say 'I'll die soon, so no need to buy anything expensive’? You may not mind, but I do. You seem to have forgotten that we're meeting each other for the first time.”
“Hahaha....”
Giovanni, who laughed as if he had just told a hilarious joke despite it wasn't funny at all, soon continued.
“My soul will be one with Sir Gio’s. You might call it a sort of resurrection or reincarnation. I'll merge into you, spend more time, build memories, and live within the origin that way.”
“... The origin?”
“It's probably still a strange concept to you.”
He gave a gentle smile.
“But you are already living there.”
“Are you saying that the place where I reside is called the 'origin'? I've recently heard about it from a new acquaintance.”
“Actually, even that was probably the name given by people on Earth. No one knows what it's truly called, or what rules and form it has. As a humble soul, I merely respond to the call and respond to you.”
Soon after, Giovanni opened his mouth, looking somewhat apologetic.
“If possible, please take care of the Sun God. To be precise, the Sun God from the world I was in.”
“I can't believe such a request to take care of a god came from a mere humble soul. You're making quite the joke again, though it's not very funny.”
“I thought the same when I was alive, but without the origin, even gods are forgotten when they have no followers. The Sun won't cease to exist, but as his son, I can't help but be concerned.”
“How can I take care of God? I’m just an ordinary human being.”
“Just remember him, talk to him from time to time, or borrow his strength. As a priest of the Sun, I swear on my honourable soul that it won't be too much of a burden for you.”
Gio nodded.
‘He said God, but to summarize, does it feel like visiting elderly people who live alone?’
Gio, who had been an art teacher, often volunteered since his university days. Some of those he encountered were elderly people with unfortunate stories, growing old alone.
Thinking about it this way, Gio was a career person. His confidence which had been shrinking at the mention of god returned.
“I’m good at that.”
“Haha, that’s a relief. I ask this of you then.”
“Is there anything else you want?”
“Isn’t it burdensome just to ask you to take care of God?”
“It was burdensome just before, but not now.”
In the super-duper ageing society of the remote mountain village in Gangwon province, Gio was the only child. At the very least, he was confident in entertaining the elderly.
Feeling such confidence, ‘Giovanni’ hesitated and opened his mouth.
“
“Aria?”
“It’s my student’s name.”
“The story has become quite long.”
His tone was still gentle, but now it carried a hint of sadness.
“Please give her an end.”
At that moment.
Gio returned to the cabin bed.
“Cooo....”
Breathing Sea_'Giovanni'
“It's okay.”
Giovanni's Quest
“Dad is okay.”
Communication with the Sun God (0/1)
Ending for the Little Mermaid (0/1)
“Really....”
Synchronization Rate 1%
“It's okay.”
“There's no problem.”
It was a strange feeling.
With cold running through his entire body, pain cutting through his bones, and even sadness far greater than that, Giovanni cried without even knowing why.
He couldn’t remember anything.
He cried like that until the moon set and new sunlight came....
“... I don’t regret it.”
With swollen eyes, he smiled.
He was happy.
t/n: Giovanni uses 선생님, while Gio uses 씨. I keep 선생님 as ‘Sir’ and 씨 as ‘Mr’ mostly since I started this series.
Senior 007 means James Bond if anyone doesn’t know and needs to search it first to know (like me).
you know when I first read this chapter, I kinda let out a speechless scream, like daaaaaaamn—I love love LOVE how I literally can’t predict what will happen in this story, and it went in an amazing direction too aahh!!!
I never like westernizing names unless it was a European setting or something similar, so this series is probably the only one I chose to use ‘Seo Gio’ instead of ‘Seo Jio’ because of this chapter. the foreshadowing of this series is crazy huhuhu I live for it. there are so many details in this chapter it was so damn good AGHH.